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Set-Up Advice for Vandersteen 1Cs

I'm beginning to piece together a system and having previously owned a pair of Vendersteen 1Bs back in the late 90's before I sold all my equipment I purchased a pair used 1Cs for $299 and $80 shipping... hopefully this was a good price.

I have a small apartment and these will be in the living room with the TV and I would like the sound from my TV, Cable, Apple TV or Roku 3, Blu-Ray, a DAC connected to my ipad/iphone/macbook pro, and eventually a turntable to be able to play through this system. I plan I have zero interest in a surround sound system, so multichannel is not a concern.

My understanding is that I should probably get an HDMI switch with audio out since things like the Apple TV and Roku 3 don't have audio out and I'll want the audio from those to play through the system. This area is new to me so any advice here would be greatly appreciated.

To complicate things I would LIKE to have a tube amp if possible. I am willing to go solid state, but I would much much prefer tube.

My budget is somewhere in the $500-$750 range. I am planning on buying used equipment to get the most bang for my buck. Something with a phono input would be best, but obviously I can't have everything.

I've been completely out of the loop and this was totally a spur of the moment purchase for me but I don't have a tremendous amount of time or disposable income so I'm looking to greater minds than my own for assistance.
greatwhitebat
zd542
5,339 posts
 
You need 2 things to set your speakers up properly. The stands and the owners manual. There's no way you are going to get it right otherwise. If the seller didn't include the manual, you can download it from Vandersteen's web site. Read through it and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. Just follow the formula he gives you. From inside edge to inside edge 6 feet apart is a good starting point. You can go a little wider if you have to. As far as the amp goes, you're OK for power. If you had a pair of 2's, you could make a case for more power, but the 1's just don't need it.

"I feel like I need to bring them closer together, probably around 55-60 inches apart because the soundstage sounds very thin in the middle and pulled out toward the edges."

Once you get the speakers higher up on the stands and set the back tilt, that problem will go away. Also, if you bought a new amp, its probably not broken in yet. Make sure you get at least 100 hours on it before you do any serious listening.
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
55...60"'s too close. split them at least 6' apart.
greatwhitebat OP
35 posts
 
You need 2 things to set your speakers up properly. The stands and the owners manual.

I should have the stands by Friday Night, so I'll be doing a lot of that stuff when I get home.

Once you get the speakers higher up on the stands and set the back tilt, that problem will go away. Also, if you bought a new amp, its probably not broken in yet. Make sure you get at least 100 hours on it before you do any serious listening.

Cool. I will look forward to that. Also the amp is like... 1-2 years younger than me. I think it's broken in ;)

55...60"'s too close. split them at least 6' apart.

Currently they are about 73" apart edge to edge from the toed in inside front edge.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Be careful with the tilt. I found very little tilt worked best for me with both the 1Cs and the 2CEs. Discovered this after setting tilt and noting how much better they sounded when I was standing in front of my chair. I straightened up the speakers until they sounded best when seated. Still some tilt, just not too much.
I would think the 40 watts is plenty unless you are really cranking them.
ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
If John from Audio Connection sees this thread, he'll chime in. He's an expert at setting them up. I think he uses an inexpensive laser, but I'm not sure. I get my Treo's set up next week and will see. Are you biwiring them? If not, you need to or you won't get everything out of them that you want.
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